Furthermore, the jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan proposed a draft PKK withdrawal from Turkey for later this year, with a nominal ceasefire date of 21 March. This adds impetus and a degree of credibility to the much-vaunted Turkish / PKK peace plan, but much hinges upon Turkey passing reforms increasing the rights of the Kurdish minority. What effect this will have on Turkish military activity remains to be seen, especially given the most recent Turkish air force bombings against PKK positions in border villages in the northern Qandail Mountains.
NORTHERN REGION
Activity over the week remained steady in the Northern regions despite the continued high tempo of Iraqi Army operations. A familiar blend of insurgent activity and mutually beneficial criminal enterprise remain omnipresent.
The majority of incidences continue to occur in the vicinity of major population areas such as Mosul, Kirkuk, and the urban centres straddling the Tigris River Valley. Of note has been the focus upon attacking ISF and GoI installations this week, predominantly using targeted IED and Suicide IEDs strikes against fixed ISF positions, but there was also an impressive SAF attack against an Iraqi Army checkpoint southeast of Tikrit on 21 February, which resulted in the death of seven military personnel with 5 wounded.
A total of 11 IED attacks were reported across the northern provinces, all of which, fortuitously, did not result in mass loss of life. The true nature and depth of enmity between ethnic groups could not be more clearly highlighted by the attempted IED strike against a kindergarten in Kirkuk, which was thankfully diffused by ISF.
Incidents in Salah Ad Din and Diyala saw little change from last week. Of note was the 23 Feb Suicide VBIED attack against the residence of the Governor of Diyala (who was incidentally arrested last week by ISF) who was not at home at the time, however there were 3 fatalities and 5 wounded in the raid. This raid clearly indicates an increasing motivation; sophistication and boldness by insurgents who are more than prepared to follow up with ground forces after high-impact attacks against defended locations.
The continued hard handlings of the demonstration movement by the ISF coupled with the increased ISF tempo ensures that Sunni Insurgent Groups remain well supported across the North, East and Western provinces.
Comments are closed.